What This Poll Worker Allegedly Got Caught Doing Got Him Ejected - Watch Out for This While Voting
What, will Democrats be following people into the voting booths next?
That really feels like the next logical step. They’re not content with just controlling the mainstream media and its messaging or perfecting the art of ballot-harvesting. They want to federalize election laws to make voting less secure. And now, at least in one locale, they have a poll worker who was supposedly telling people how to vote — something that’s highly illegal.
According to education-centric outlet Chalkboard Review, the poll worker in the Indianapolis suburb of Carmel, Indiana, was escorted out of an early voting site on Thursday after sources said he was pressuring people to vote for Democratic school board candidates and saying the conservative candidates were “racist.”
The site said the worker, identified as James Zheng, had told black voters “not to vote for the racist candidates outside.” The conservative slate of school board candidates, who identify as “pro-parent,” were — according to Hamilton County Election Administrator Beth Sheller — behind the no-electioneering boundary.
In addition, the worker reportedly preselected a straight Democrat ticket for some voters while saying that he was merely “explaining the voting machines.”
Voters complained to election officials, with one official saying some people “didn’t know how to change it back” from the straight-Democrat ticket.
WXIN-TV reported the worker was asked not to return to work.
“Today, a Democrat poll worker in Carmel was removed from working an early voting site for attempting to pressure voters not to support one of our GOP-endorsed school board candidates,” Hamilton County COP chairman Mario Massillamany said in a Thursday statement.
“I have been in communication with local election officials to make sure poll workers are reminded that such activity, called electioneering, is illegal,” Massillamany said. “This should serve as a cautionary reminder that those desperate to hold onto power or gain power will do anything — including breaking the law — to thwart the effects of parents and taxpayers to replace our school boards with officials who more accurately reflect the values of our community.”
BREAKING: Democrat poll worker in Indianapolis ejected after she was caught pressuring voters AT THE POLLS not to vote for pro-parent school board candidates she called “racist”. pic.twitter.com/qavvok2eYG
— Tony Kinnett (@TheTonus) November 5, 2022
According to The Post Millennial, Indiana’s Election Day Handbook for poll workers explains electioneering pretty clearly: “State law defines ‘electioneering’ as making a verbal statement or displaying a written statement indicating support or opposition to any candidate, political party, or public question appearing on the ballot.”
However, the county Democratic Party claims the poll worker’s intentions are being misinterpreted.
“It appears as though school board activists, supporting GOP-endorsed candidates, were too close to voting machines at a vote center in the county,” the party said in a Sunday statement.
“After a poll worker brought it to the attention of election administrators, he was removed from working the site.”
The party is also casting the incident as (sigh) election denialism.
“The Hamilton County Republican Party is trying to sow last-minute doubt into the integrity of our elections. We believe voters deserve honesty and the truth,” the Democrats’ statement said.
“While extreme Republicans will want to make this a distraction to Hamilton County voters, the Hamilton County Democratic Party will support the filing of a complaint to the Hamilton County Election Board so the facts can be presented and trust can be maintained in the county through Election Day,” it said.
However, Sheller told Chalkboard Review she hoped the poll worker will be prosecuted.
“I have never seen anything like this,” the county elections administrator said.
Whatever the case, the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department started an investigation on Monday, according to the report — so, if there really is a crime and this isn’t just a harmless misunderstanding, as the county Democratic Party claims, Zheng could be in some serious trouble.
It’s difficult to believe that multiple reports to election officials sprang up out of nowhere about Zheng thanks to “extreme Republicans” who were “trying to sow last-minute doubt into the integrity of our elections.” That said, Zheng hasn’t been charged with anything and the law enforcement investigation is just underway.
However, let it be an object lesson on Election Day. You know the old adage: If you see something, say something. Know your local electioneering laws — and if poll workers are breaking them. Don’t be afraid to speak up.
I might have been joking when I said at the outset that the Democrats would be following you into the voting booth next when you cast your ballot. However, it’s not an exaggeration to say they wouldn’t mind doing that.
Heck, if reports are to be believed, Zheng allegedly preselected the straight-Democrat ticket for voters because he was just showing them how the system worked. Right.
The law sets distinct boundaries on electioneering. Be aware of them and make sure poll workers don’t cross them. Good fences make for clean politics.
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